Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru

Chapter 2: Decapitation in Cupisnique and Early Moche Societies

  Decapitation in Cupisnique and Early Moche Societies  -  Anthropology Department, Universityof San Diego  The Cupisnique cultists (ca. – ..) of the prehistoric Peruvian north coast were remarkable artists in clay, and their goldwork was the finest of very early metal production in the Andes. Their ceremonial architecture , decorated with sculpture, was impressive. They were one of the earliest cultures to record decapitation graphically. A study of their art reveals five distinct supernatural head-takers: a spider, a bird of prey, a monster , a fish, and a human (Cordy-Collins).The artists represented these decapitators according to the esoteric but formal canons dictated by their religious tradition. This tradition is most frequently referred to as a cult. There are two intertwined reasons for this. First, there is little direct evidence of Cupisnique patterns of social organization, demography, or subsistence strategies . What is known concerning these areas has been inferred, in large part, from the architecture and art. The architecture can be termed ‘‘corporate ,’’ indicating that it was planned and ordered (see Moseley ). The systematic arrangement of structures in Cupisnique sites (such as the Los Reyes complex in the Moche Valley) indicates the presence of an organized , stratified society of—at least—architects and designers, skilled artisans , and manual laborers. Base personnel of farmers, fisherfolk, hunters, or traders also must have existed to support the upper echelons of the society, but almost nothing can be said about such groups at the present stage of research. The second reason for referring to a Cupisnique cult is that, beyond the formal and structural regularities of Cupisnique architecture , many buildings were embellished with painted and incised stucco relief work depicting surreal creatures. The archaeological sites of Los Reyes, Cerro Blanco, Punkurí, Moxeke, Cerro Sechín, and Garagay all display buildings with such decoration. In addition to the architectural ornamentation, supernatural creatures and their disembodied parts permeate virtually all other forms of Cupis-  Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru nique art. All media lack commonplace representations. Naturalistic objects do appear in Cupisnique art, but analysis has shown them to exist within a supernaturalized religious context (Cordy-Collins , a, b,,; Lathrap). For these reasons, Cupisnique society is seen as one strongly rooted in and absorbed by religion. Following Anthony Wallace (), who classifies all religious institutions as one of four types of cults, it seems fair to refer to the Cupisnique people as a ‘‘cult,’’ probably a shamanistic one. However, although a decided commonality exists in the artistry at the various Cupisnique sites, there is no reliable evidence that they were united other than through a similar religious practice. Therefore, to call the Cupisnique more than a cult stretches the available data. The Cupisnique (also known as coastal Chavín) sphere of influence radiated outward from the Quebrada de Cupisnique, a region these people seem to have dominated for a millennium or more. The impact of their ideology extended from their coastal homeland to the eastern side of the Andean cordillera, but—eventually—the Cupisnique tradition waned; other emerging north-coast cultures that had experienced Cupisnique in- fluence went on to develop their own character. Thus, the epi-Cupisnique period witnessed the rise of the Moche, Salinar,Vicús, and Virú (Gallinazo) cultures. Of these, by far the most vigorous and enduring was the Moche, spanning almost six centuries (ca. – ..). A great deal more is known about Moche society than about Cupisnique . Several Moche archaeological sites are well excavated and they tell a consistent story. The society was highly stratified; it incorporated a base population of farming and fishing folk, a middle class, and an elite population of extraordinary wealth (Donnan ; ). And, while there was a definite distinction in the material culture between the Moche of the north coast and of the far north coast, there was a religious commonality which transcended time and space (Donnan ). Not only were the Moche the most dynamic of the societies that followed the Cupisnique, but they seem to have been the ones most interested in the Cupisnique iconographic message. Intriguingly, the old Cupisnique supernatural head-takers—the spider, bird of prey, monster, fish, and human—are the same ones that the Moche chose to render in their religious art, with the addition of a supernatural crab and a scorpion. This narrow cast of characters is particularly striking because both cultures—the Moche in particular—represented a range of their local animals in other contexts. By contrast, decapitation imagery is extremely circumscribed.1 This similarity between the Cupisnique and Moche...